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Chapter 13 of 30
奇门遁甲秘笈大全
To determine whether a traveler will come or not, one need only carefully arrange and deduce from the hour and day stems and branches. If the hour element and day stem generate and harmonize with each other, and further encounter a pattern that restrains the day branch, then the cavalry returns and the traveler may come home. Additionally, it is favorable if the hour branch transforms into the day's horse (post horse), or if the day branch combines with the horse and returns to the hour position; if the hour horse is linked with the day branch, and further enters the tomb branch or stem, then the return date can be determined. Most to be feared are the void cuts and punishment tombs; when encountering death and extinction positions, news becomes sparse. Use the day stem's nayin and the hour stem's nayin to infer departure or stay: if the nayin generates and harmonizes, then the person has already set out; if the hour nayin comes to overcome the day stem's nayin, the traveler lingers in a foreign land (Wuling, figuratively a distant paradise); if the day stem's nayin overcomes the hour nayin, even if they wish to depart, it is difficult to do so. Then carefully examine the position of official prosperity and the location of the post horse, using the three harmonies of hour and day to investigate the circumstances of return. 🚶
The return date of a traveler is judged primarily by generation and harmonization between stems and branches. When hour and day generate each other, the intention to return has stirred; the post horse represents the motive for movement; the tomb storehouse represents the appointed time of destination. Within the interactions of generation, overcoming, transformation, and restraint lies hidden the traveler's tendency to leave or stay.
The ancient "divination on travelers" corresponds to when family members, partners, or business associates who are away will return. Its core logic is: the relationship between the time stems and branches and the natal stems and branches determines the will to act (post horse), external conditions (generation and harmony), and obstructing factors (punishment, tomb, death, extinction). Understanding "post horse" as the driving force of action, and "tomb storehouse" as the resting point or terminal station, reveals remarkable parallels with modern behavioral decision models involving motivation—obstacles—goal achievement.
The deep logic of traveler divination lies in the resonance between heaven and humanity—an individual's movements resonate with the rhythms of cosmic time-space. This is not superstitious mysticism, but rather the ancients' systemic intuition that "human beings exist within the great system of heaven and earth." The stem-branch system is essentially a time-event mapping model established by the ancients.
The day stem represents the traveler; the hour stem represents the destination. If the person element overcomes the earth element (day overcomes hour), then the direction is favorable; if the hour element overcomes the person element, the place visited brings much difficulty. The hour stem's nayin represents conditions along the way; if it does not harm the day stem, one may spur the horse forward; if the midway nayin further generates and supports the day stem, then one feels satisfied even before reaching the destination. Most to be feared are the void cuts and punishments and harms; when进退两难 (unable to advance or retreat), one must consider alternative directions. 🚶🌬
The core formula of travel divination: day stem (person) vs. hour stem (place). When person overcomes place, "I can master the environment"; when place overcomes person, "the environment constrains me." This follows the same lineage as Qi Men's "host-guest relationship"—I am the host, the destination is the guest, and the generation/overcoming between host and guest determines travel quality.
Modern people travel frequently—business trips, vacations, relocation, study abroad. This passage provides a travel suitability assessment framework:
This aligns completely with modern thinking patterns of evaluating adaptability to the target city, travel risks, and post-arrival experience before a trip.
| Assessment Item | Pattern | Practical Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Destination compatibility | Day overcomes hour | Target environment suits you; proactive control |
| Destination unfavorable | Hour overcomes day | Environmental pressure high; consider re-evaluation |
| Smooth journey | Nayin does not harm day | Smooth行程, safe travels |
| Arrival experience | Nayin generates day | Good omen before arrival |
Travel divination reflects the ancients' cautious attitude toward spatial migration. In ancient times when transportation was inconvenient, travel was a major decision; in modern times, despite convenient transportation, "the degree of match between environment and person" remains the core variable determining travel quality. The essence of travel is not displacement, but rather the energy exchange between person and new environment.
Zhi Fu (Direct Symbol) governs the mountain-facing direction of the house; Teng She (Flying Serpent) governs maidservants and mental aberrations; Tai Yin (Great Yin) governs female servants; Liu He (Six Harmonies) governs children, siblings, relatives, and friends; Gou Chen Bai Hu (Dog Chen White Tiger) governs servants and roads; Zhu Que Xuan Wu (Vermilion Bird Dark Warrior) governs disputes, slander, thieves, and petty people; Jiu Tian (Nine Heavens) indicates the bright hall (courtyard); Jiu Di (Nine Earths) indicates the dark chamber.
Eight Gates correspond to the door and road positions of the residence: Xiu Gate (Rest) is the Kan house (north) door/road; Sheng Gate (Birth) is the Gen house (northeast) door/road; Shang Gate (Injury) is the Zhen house (east) door/road; Du Gate (Blockade) is the Xun house (southeast) door/road; Jing Gate (Scenery) is the Li house (south) door/road; Si Gate (Death) is the Kun house (southwest) door/road; Jing Gate (Startle) is the Dui house (west) door/road; Kai Gate (Opening) is the Qian house (northwest) door/road. 🏠⛰
Ten Stems correspond to elements within the dwelling: Jia is the ridge beam; Yi is the roof beam, blessing lattice, east door, and bed; Bing is the incense hall; Ding is the stove platform (curved stove); Wu is the wall and courtyard, workshop; Ji is the dwelling, skylight, and house; Geng is the corridor, roof ridge, stove, and cauldron; Xin is window, wok, and steamer; Ren is the path, door panel, and well; Gui is the latrine and rear door path.
Nine Stars correspond to household affairs: Tian Peng (Heavenly Sedge) is the house, pavilion courtyard, middle son, and women; Tian Ren (Heavenly Benevolence) is the youngest son, Taoist priest, and road; Tian Chong (Heavenly Rush) is the eldest son, broker, doors and windows, and coffin; Tian Fu (Heavenly Assistance) is the eldest daughter, monk or nun, tripod and basket; Tian Ying (Heavenly Heroism) is the middle daughter, hall and chamber; Tian Rui (Heavenly Star) is the old ridge, road, well, and courtyard; Tian Qin (Heavenly Bird) is mother and aunt, hall and chamber; Tian Zhu (Heavenly Pillar) is the youngest daughter, door, father and uncle, latrine, and attic; Tian Xin (Heavenly Heart) is the wall.
Nine Palaces each have their own dominion: if Palace One obtains orders, the dwelling is neat and elegant; if it loses orders, it is uneven and irregular; if Palace Two obtains orders, the courtyard is round and spacious; if Palace Three obtains orders, the middle courtyard is orderly in height; if Palace Seven obtains orders, the dwelling is neat and secure; if Palace Nine obtains orders, it is winding and fresh. The remaining palaces likewise have their auspicious and inauspicious distinctions.
The essence of residence divination is spatial semiotics—mapping every direction, structure, and spatial element of a dwelling into the Qi Men symbolic system, judging dwelling fortune through the generation/overcoming relationships among symbols. The Eight Gates paired with the Eight Trigrams set directions, the Ten Stems pair with dwelling body structure, the Nine Stars pair with family members, forming a complete holographic model of the residence.
This system can be regarded as an ancient residential assessment system:
Important references for modern home selection and viewing:
The mentality reflected in residence divination is: a dwelling is not an inanimate building, but an organic energy field. "When person and dwelling generate each other, there are many benefits; when the dwelling harms the person, one cannot dwell there" — the essence of this aligns highly with modern Environmental Psychology's theory of "environment-behavior interaction." The dwelling is simultaneously a physical space, a psychological space, and a carrier of social space.
Zhi Fu (Direct Symbol) governs yang syndromes; Teng She (Flying Serpent) governs fright, night dreams, and seminal emission; Tai Yin (Great Yin) governs lung consumption and bone deficiency; Liu He (Six Harmonies) governs wind-numbness; Gou Chen Bai Hu (Dog Chen White Tiger) governs nausea, vomiting, and casualties on the road; Zhu Que Xuan Wu (Vermilion Bird Dark Warrior) governs mental confusion, collapse, and discharge syndromes; Jiu Di (Nine Earths) governs yin syndromes; Jiu Tian (Nine Heavens) governs low spirits.
Eight Gates correspond to disease conditions: Xiu Gate governs diarrhea, dysentery, and febrile diseases; Sheng Gate governs paralysis, toxins, and eye injury; Shang Gate governs contracture, wind-cold; Du Gate governs congestion, throat and teeth, stomach wind; Jing Gate governs food stagnation, abscesses, boils, and skin ulcers; Si Gate governs internal masses; Jing Gate (Startle) governs consumption (pulmonary tuberculosis); Kai Gate governs lung abscess, throat and tongue diseases. 🏥
Ten Stems paired with body parts: Jia—head, face, liver; Yi—shoulders, back, gallbladder; Bing—forehead, nose, heart, sinews; Ding—teeth, tongue, small intestine; Wu—spleen; Ji—stomach; Geng—lungs, sinews; Xin—chest; Ren—kidneys; Gui—internal organs.
Nine Stars paired with disease causes: Tian Peng governs water spirit calamities; Tian Ren governs cold temple ghost afflictions; Tian Chong governs hanging pillars, birth complications, and seasonal epidemics; Tian Fu governs unsettled old vows to heavenly spirits; Tian Ying governs restless stove god; Tian Rui governs ancestral spirits causing mischief; Tian Qin governs city god and earth god bestowing blessings; Tian Zhu governs well and grave as acupoints; Tian Xin governs heavenly spirits sending calamities.
Nine Palaces paired with disease conditions: Palace One governs blood syndromes and unfavorable meridians (suitable for purging and疏导); Palace Two governs spleen and stomach diseases; Palace Three governs fire syndromes and chest/heart agitation (suitable for warming-cooling); Palace Seven governs consumptive conditions and unfavorable sinews/bones (suitable for warming and tonifying); Palace Eight suitable for acupuncture and moxibustion; Palace Nine governs wind syndromes and unfavorable body surface (suitable for harmonizing).
Illness divination constructs a body—star/gate—stem/palace correspondence system. Body parts are paired with the Ten Stems, disease types with the Eight Gates, disease causes with the Nine Stars, forming a complete diagnostic chain from symptom manifestation → organ localization → cause tracing → treatment direction.
This system can be re-examined through the lens of modern systems medicine:
The most thought-provoking aspect of illness divination: it treats disease as a manifestation of imbalance in the heaven-human relationship—not merely an imbalance of the individual body, but an imbalance in the relationship between the person and cosmic rhythms, with ancestral spirits (the ghost-affliction meanings in the Nine Stars), and with the dwelling environment. This shares profound resonance with modern Psychosomatic Medicine and the concept of Ecological Health: disease is a signal of systemic imbalance, not an isolated event.
Zhi Fu (Direct Symbol) governs the pregnant mother; Teng She (Flying Serpent) governs threatened miscarriage (signs of miscarriage); Tai Yin (Great Yin) governs the midwife (birth attendant); Liu He (Six Harmonies) governs the fetus; Gou Chen Bai Hu (Dog Chen White Tiger) governs the birth gate and birth spirit; Zhu Que Xuan Wu (Vermilion Bird Dark Warrior) governs the placenta and lochia; Jiu Di (Nine Earths) governs the fetal spirit; Jiu Tian (Nine Heavens) governs the birth spirit. 🤰
Eight Gates for judging pregnancy and birth: Xiu Gate governs stable but somewhat delayed birth, gives male child; Sheng Gate governs smooth birth, gives male child; Shang Gate governs mother's fright during birth, gives male child; Du Gate governs guarding against empty birth, gives female child; Jing Gate governs stable fetus and quick birth, gives female child; Si Gate governs disadvantage to both mother and child, gives female child; Jing Gate (Startle) governs concern of loss or damage, gives female child; Kai Gate governs favorable birth but unfavorable pregnancy, gives male child.
Ten Stems' Twelve Stages of Life for inferring fetal nourishment, birth, and death: Jia gestates at You, is nourished at Xu, born at Hai, dies at Wu; Yi gestates at Shen, nourished at Wei, born at Wu, dies at Hai; Bing gestates at Wei, nourished at Chou, born at Yin, dies at You; Ding gestates at Hai, nourished at Xu, born at You, dies at Yin; Wu gestates at Zi, nourished at Chou, born at Yin, dies at You; Ji gestates at Hai, nourished at Xu, born at You, dies at Yin; Geng gestates at Mao, nourished at Chen, born at Si, dies at Zi; Xin gestates at Yin, nourished at Chou, born at Zi, dies at Si; Ren gestates at Wu, nourished at Wei, born at Shen, dies at Mao; Gui gestates at Si, nourished at Chen, born at Mao, dies at Shen.
Nine Stars use five-element exuberance to discuss fetal qi: Tian Peng governs water exuberance; Tian Ren, Tian Qin, Tian Rui govern earth exuberance; Tian Chong, Tian Fu govern wood exuberance; Tian Ying governs fire exuberance; Tian Zhu, Tian Xin govern metal exuberance.
Pregnancy and birth divination revolves around a dual-element model of mother and child: the day stem represents the mother, the hour stem represents the child (or Liu He represents the child), using the generation/overcoming relationship between mother and child to determine whether birth will proceed smoothly. The Eight Gates' yin-yang and odd-even nature determines the child's sex, the three Jia's opening and closing determines the three juxtapositions (upper, middle, lower corresponding to the three stages of labor), and auspicious/inauspicious patterns determine the safety of both mother and child.
The value of traditional childbirth divination in the modern era lies mainly in:
Childbirth divination is the section of Qimen Dunjia with the greatest care for life. It incorporates childbirth—the most primal and sacred of human activities—into the cosmological framework of time and space, reflecting the ancients' reverence and prudence toward the birth of life. The use of Yin-Yang to determine male and female, and the Five Elements' waxing and waning to judge fetal vitality, embodies the deep-rooted belief in the ancient Chinese view of life generation that "human beings and nature share the same structure and the same laws."
| Concept | Meaning | Application in Volume 13 |
|---|---|---|
| Zhi Fu (Chief Star) | The supreme of the Nine Stars, governing the overall situation | Represents the core status of the subject being divined |
| Zhi Shi (Chief Envoy) | The envoy of the Eight Gates, in charge of execution | Represents the progression of the specific matter |
| Yi Ma (Messenger Horse) | The spirit of action | Key basis for judging a traveler's return date and the timing of departure |
| Three Jia | Meng, Zhong, and Ji Jia, divided across three Jiao/stages | Locating stages of labor and positions of illness |
| Na Yin | The pentatonic and Five Element attributes of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches | Determining a traveler's departure or stay, and fortune during travel |
| Auspicious/Inauspicious Patterns | Such as Fan Shou (Turning the Head), Die Xue (Falling into the Pit), Long Zou (Dragon Fleeing), Hu Kuang (Tiger Raging), etc. | Deciding the auspiciousness or inauspiciousness of various matters |
Contemporary scholars' research on the Qimen system focuses on:
The five major divination categories covered in Volume 13—travelers, travel, dwellings, illness, and childbirth—constitute the principal concerns of daily life decision-making for the ancients: the return date of distant travelers, the safety of journeys, peace and security at home, health and disease, and childbirth and reproduction. All five sections reflect the cosmic view of "unity of Heaven and humanity" inherent in the Qimen system: using heavenly timing (Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches) as the meridian, spatial layout (Nine Palaces and Eight Gates) as the parallel, and human affairs (symbolic correspondence) as the warp, interwoven into a decision-making reference network covering the major affairs of life.